


Aristotle and Dante Discover Christmas

by poetsociety



Category: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Sequel, Unofficial Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 14:05:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10810536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetsociety/pseuds/poetsociety
Summary: Literally a piece I had to write for my lgbtq+ literature class. It could've been developed more but my assignment had a seven page limit. Thought i'd share it here as an unofficial sequel anyway, enjoy!





	Aristotle and Dante Discover Christmas

        “Dante, hurry up! The flight leaves in two hours!”  
        “That’s still a load of time!” came a muffled voice behind the slightly ajar door. This man, I swear. He was probably buried under all the clothes he couldn’t decide on taking. We were supposed to leave thirty minutes ago to account for the ridiculous Austin traffic and the busy airport considering the holiday season. But of course, Dante was running late.  
        “Sorry! Sorry… I’m ready. It’s really your fault for letting me buy so many clothes.”  
        “How can I say no to that face?” I reached for the bags piled next to me right as Dante began to flash that beaming smile of his, the one that had my stomach doing somersaults even after all these years. Dammit, I was supposed to be annoyed with him.

                                                                                                        ❄  ❄  ❄  ❄  ❄

      The flight was fairly calm. I think both Dante and I were nervous. It’s the first time we’d be back in El Paso since we both left for college 6 years ago. Though we’d seen our families almost every year since then. Sam and Soledad came down whenever they could manage because of Thea but it seemed as though my parents were always here. They insisted on making a vacation out of it each time and would take a few days after Christmas to visit nearby tourist locations. It made me happy to see them that way. I wondered if it’s how they were before they had me... before Bernado. Dante’s talked about relocating back to El Paso after he finishes school but it logistically couldn’t work. There’s no way we could afford a house when we were still paying off student debt, not to mention Dante’s new ones accruing. I may have also used that as an excuse for my own feelings of not wanting to move back. I know I didn’t have the worst childhood, but since leaving, I’ve only associated that town with memories of my accident and my brother. All I need is Dante and I have him now. It’s not like we never see our parents anyway. Why do we have to move back when we're perfectly happy here?  
        Glancing over to the seat next me, Dante was sound asleep. The flight is only a couple of hours but graduate school’s been taking a toll on him. I stared at his face for a moment. His features had become more structured with age. More beautiful. It’d been difficult at first. Even after discovering my feelings for Dante, things didn’t magically get better. The nightmares still occurred, the hole in my life left by Bernardo came back. But having Dante there, holding me through every night terror or giving me space when he knew I wanted to be left alone helped me in more ways than I’ll probably ever tell him.  
        But I think he knows. Dante always knows.  
        I shifted closer to him in my seat and leaned my head against his shoulder with shut eyes. The rest of the flight passed just like this.

                                                                                                        ❄  ❄  ❄  ❄  ❄

  
        I woke to a fidgety Dante glancing out the window, his hands tapping against his thighs to an unfamiliar beat. I had to rest my hand on his knee to stop it from bouncing.  
        Just then, it was like a flip switched in his brain and suddenly he turned to me with a grin. All traces of nerves gone.  
        “Are you okay?” I asked.  
        He nodded his head before resting his hand on top of mine, squeezing my fingers just a bit.  
        “We’re here,” he said as he peeked through the window again.  
        I turned my hand under his so that our fingers interlocked. I know how he would take the gesture: that I’m here for him, even if I can’t vocalize it. Truth is, I could tell Dante had been anticipating this this trip but he’d also been a little worried. He loves seeing his family, especially Thea, but deep down in that stubborn brain of his, he still harbors guilt for not being the son he thinks they wanted. He still gets overworked if he thinks too much about how, even if we wanted too, we couldn’t get married by law. We’d talked about adopting and possibly starting a family but clearly neither of us are ready for that yet. By that, I really mean I wasn’t ready. Dante never tried to push it after the first time I showed any signs of hesitation and I know I should be grateful but it made me feel worse. For someone as spontaneous as Dante, an unclear future sure scares him. Despite all of that, Dante was ecstatic to be back in El Paso. I still don’t understand that kid.

  
                                                                                                        ❄  ❄  ❄  ❄  ❄

  
        After gathering our carry-ons, we made our way into the airport to collect Dante’s luggage. I shot my mom a quick text message letting her know that we had landed. The nerves in my stomach multiplying out of excitement and anticipation that only settled when I saw her bright face smiling through the crowd of people as she made her way towards us with my dad in tow.    
        “Ari!” She exclaimed before taking both Dante and I into a hug. I couldn’t help the smile appearing on my face as I took in the familiar scent of her perfume.  
        “Hi, mom,” I murmured into her shoulder. I could hear Dante chuckling softly before she let us go and he moved to shake my dad’s hand.  
        “Dad,” I said as I felt his strong arms pulling me into a hug.  
        “It’s really good to see you both back,” he said as he let me go.  
        I couldn’t keep the smile from forming on my face. Seeing both of them made my heart swell. Before I knew we were out of the airport and my father kept insisting         on helping us carry our bags but of course Dante wouldn’t let him.  
        “How’s Legs?” Dante asked as soon as we were settled into the car. I looked over to see him giving me an elfin smile. Since family reunions for us never included coming back to El Paso, I haven’t seen Legs in a long time. It didn’t feel right to take her with us and plus, she was good company to my mother and father now that I’m out of the house. That meant that I missed her like crazy and even refused to get another dog as long as Legs was around.    
        “Lazy,” My mother joked. “She hasn’t had anyone to go running with in years.”  
        There was no way I could imagine Legs lounging around the house any dog her age usually would be.  
        “She’s always had too much energy for that,” I said. My mother laughed. Our eyes locked and I could see the uncontrolled happiness in hers. It was happiness from seeing us again, here in our hometown, and that made me incredibly sad.  
        The rest of the car ride went by with us catching up. Actually, it was mostly my mom asking questions as Dante answered them and my father and I listening in contently. We passed my old high school on the way and I thought about Gina and Susie. I hadn’t thought about them in years but I hoped they were doing okay. Nice girls, they were; definitely helped keep me out of trouble, though I’d never admit it.  
The house looked just the same as the day I was last here. Well, except for the new landscaping out in the front yard. I guess my mom took up gardening. Dante and I helped my dad grab our luggage from the trunk before we made our way into the house. The moment we walked in all I saw was a blur of yellow fur before Legs began to attack me.  
        “Legs!” I couldn’t help the burst of laughs that came after as I abandoned the suitcases next to me and knelt down to pet her. “I missed you so much.”  
Dante knelt down beside me and ran his hand along her back as she happily tried to lick his face. Seeing them both together was a very happy sight to see and it caught me a little off guard.  
        “Look at you three. It’s like the past six years never happened.”  
        I looked up to see Sam grinning at us and Soledad standing beside him in the hall. Dante got up and immediately went over to give them both a hug. I smiled watching them. Before giving Legs one last scratch on the top of her head, I got up and walked over to them.  
        “It’s good to see you guys,” I said as they each pulled me into a tight hug separately. Just then Thea came running into the room and attached herself to Dante’s leg.  
        “Dante!”  
        Dante bent down to pick her up and enclose in a bear hug. He looked so happy, I couldn’t help but smiling watching them. That is until I saw Sam looking at me with that look he has that makes you feel like he knows all your deepest secrets.  
His hand clasped my shoulders before he asked, “How’ve you two been?”  
        “We’ve been really good. Dante’s working really hard at school and the literary agency is treating me well. For now, at least.”  
        “That’s wonderful, but I meant how have you two been? Has Dante thrown all of your shoes out of the house yet?” He quirked his eyebrows as he spoke.  
        I laughed, shaking my head.  
        “No. Not yet anyway, but we’ve been great. Dante’s amazing. I...” I looked over to see Dante talking to Thea with her in his arms. It made me sad to see the way Dante handled children. He’d make a great father, just like Sam. “I’m really lucky to have him.”  
        “He’s lucky to have you too, Ari.”  
         I felt Sam’s hand give my shoulder a quick squeeze before disappearing. I was too busy watching Thea showing Dante her newest addition to her American Girl Doll collection to notice him and Soledad had moved into the kitchen to help my parents prepare for dinner.  
        “Hey, why don’t we say hi to Ari, huh?” I heard Dante say before Thea glanced up at me with a shy smile. I had to kneel down to be eye level with her, looking at Dante with a sheepish expression as I did. It’s not that I truly disliked kids, I’ve just never had any experience with them.  
        “Hi, Thea,” I bopped her nose awkwardly, feeling a little silly at the way her nose scrunched in response.  
        “Hi, Ari. Are you Dante’s friend?” She asked. I couldn’t help but find that funny. Granted Thea was a baby the last time I saw her so she couldn’t possibly remember me.  
        “Something like that.”  
        “Well, you must be his bestest friend because you make him really happy!” She said as she absently twirled her doll’s hair and beamed at me.  
        “Dante! Can you come help with the tamales?” Came Soledad’s voice from the kitchen. I glanced up at Dante and I guess I looked a bit nervous because he laughed.  
        “Watch Thea, will you? I’ll be right back.” He planted a quick, chaste kiss to my cheek before getting up and leaving the two of us.  
        I looked back down at Thea, a small sigh escaping my lips.  
        “Well, I guess it’s just the two of us.”  
        “Why did Dante kiss you?”  
        “Wha—Uh,” Crap, how do I explain this to a seven-year old?  “Um. You see, Thea… Your brother and I… We…”  
        “Love each other?” She looked up at me with the same brown eyes that I’d seen probably hundreds of times now waking up every morning. Her words caught me a   bit off guard before I realized they shouldn’t have. She had Soledad and Sam as parents and after all, they’d raised Dante, the most open-minded and caring human being compared to my still very conflicted and grumpy one. How could Dante even think they were disappointed in any part of him?  
         I nodded at her, my smile beginning to slowly mirror hers.  
         “Yeah, we love each other.” I brought my hand up to pinch her cheeks lightly which elicited a squeaky laugh. “Come on, let’s go see if dinner’s ready.”

                                                                                                       ❄  ❄  ❄  ❄  ❄

        Dinner went by as well as you could expect, which for our family means pretty amazing. I couldn’t remember the last time I had home cooked pozole and champurado. Surely Dante and I had tried but it could never live up to this. It was truly a sight to see. My mother and father were laughing. I hadn’t seen my dad laugh often in his life, but this one night made up for all those years. Dante seemed the happiest of all. It was obvious seeing his parents and Thea after so long and in El Paso really affected him. I never wanted to see that happiness leave his face.  
        “Did you hear Susie is pregnant with another child?” My mother asked. “Bless her soul, Ethan isn’t even two years old yet. She’s a great mother though.”  
        I shook my head. I hadn’t even known Susie had gotten married.  
        “She’s always asking about you. Gina too. How many times have I told you to get in touch with them?” She scolded lightly. I smiled a little sadly at her.  
        “I know, I know. I’ll get in touch with them before we leave town,”  
        I didn’t expect that last part to hurt as much as it did before I had said it. Luckily, I was distracted by Dante raising his eyebrow at me that mirrored the exact expression on my father’s face.  
        “What? I swear! Now can we please change the subject?” I asked a little desperately.  
        Sam coughed slightly and I turned my head to look over at him with Soledad’s hand resting on his arm, Thea happily digging into her tamales.  
        “Actually, we do have some news.” He said.  
        “We’re moving to Illinois,” Soledad finished for him. “So that Sam can be close to a really good job offer.”  
        Dante’s expression was equivalent to blank. He just looked down at his food as he continued to eat. I rested my hand on his knee, giving him my support in the only way I could at the moment.  
        “Oh, Chole. That’s great news,” my mother said from the other side of the table.  
        “But you’ll all be very missed,” my father finished.  
        “We’ll come visit you as often as we can,” I chimed in.  
        “Actually, we need someone to watch over the house while we’re gone,” Soledad continued. Her expression hopeful and directed towards me. “We were hoping you two would consider...?”  
        Her voice trailed off and immediately Sam chimed in. “Of course you don’t have too, we can rent it out but we thought maybe… if there was any chance?”  
        I felt everyone’s gaze fall on me as I turned to look at Dante. He looked up at me with a slightly sheepish look. Of course he knew. That’s why he’d pushed for us to come to El Paso this Christmas though he knew I’d put up a fight. He’d stayed adamant through every argument and even let me buy him a new pair of shoes to replace old ones if it meant I’d agree to going. I guess it goes to show how well Dante knows me. The minute I walked out of that airplane, I was convinced. Being in El Paso again with my parents and Legs, passing the desert Dante and I spent countless hours in under the night sky, and seeing the house that played a vast role in my development as a teenager, it flooded me like a wave. I missed it more then I’d even realized but even though I couldn’t, Dante did.    
        “I…” I looked at my parents and saw my mother looking at me admiringly. We had been away for a long time. And if it meant making Dante happy, I was willing to give it a shot. My eyes interlocked with Dante once more and I shook my head at him, a slight grin playing at my lips. “I am going to kill you later.”  
        Instantly I felt Dante’s arms around my neck pulling me into a tight embrace.  
        “Yes!” He cried. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”  
        I laughed along with him, my head resting against him as he continued to cling to me. My eyes wandered around the table in front of us as I took in the faces of the people who made such a big impact on who I am today. I don’t know where I’d be without them. The world we live in isn’t an easy one yet somehow I had gotten so lucky. Usually, I’d be beating myself up for knowing I don’t deserve it but it’s Christmas and I’m way too content for that right now.

 

                                                                                                             The End.


End file.
